Birch and Barley: Beer Lovers Unite

If you’re big into beer, you’re totally going to flip out over today’s featured restaurant. Located on 14th street near Logan Circle, Birch & Barley carries over 500 artisan beers from around the world (!!!!) They were all carefully curated by Greg Engert, their badass beer director, so you KNOW whatever you get is going to be good. Now, don’t be fooled! The beer here is legit, but the food’s just as good so you don’t need to be tipsy to enjoy it.

Chef Bill Williamson (aka Wes Bentley’s doppelgänger) sent out 3 fabulous dishes and we shared amongst ourselves: the funghi flatbread ($22), the dorade ($26) and the swordfish ($29). The flatbread was perfectly cooked and topped with portobello, caramelized onion and casatica di bufala. The dorade came with a ratatouille of squash, tomato, smoked eggplant and curry oil, and the swordfish was served on top of a watercress salad with red onion, hazelnuts, and watermelon.

Although everything was nomtastic, the flatbread was the clear standout for us. It kind of tasted like chicken marsala except with mushrooms served on top of a deliciously chewy crust with melted mozzarella cheese. BTW, we mean that as a compliment – the flavors came together beautifully and we couldn’t get enough. It definitely made us want to go back for more! FYI, they also sell a pork belly flatbread. Mind = blown. Topped with blue cheese, garlic, red onions, fontina, and blessed by Dumbledore because magical flatbreads like this can’t possibly exist. If you get there before us, def. let us know what you think because we’d love to live vicariously through you.

Our beautiful dorade.

We didn’t think we had enough food so we indulged in dessert as well. This ridiculously gorg plate was *drum roll, please* Bill Williamson’s tot sundae ($15). Yes, you heard right, we said “tot sundae,” like tater tots. His inspiration for this uber-creative plate? Fries dipped in ice cream. These delish tots were churro-ized and served with coffee ice cream, chocolate sauce, candied hazelnuts and whipped cream. This alone was worth the trip to Birch & Barley for real! Anywho, that’s it for today nomsters – definitely let us know what you think of this joint, and remember to TRY THEIR FUNGHI FLATBREAD AND SUNDAE. #SorryNotSorryForTheCaps

One last thing, although this place is a bar upstairs (Churchkey), this isn’t really a dive so clean yourself up before coming. It’s not a sweats kind of establishment – just giving you all a heads up. Think fancy bar with a 5-star restaurant attached below. Also, we’ve started posting 3 times a week as opposed to 2 so that means more foodporn on the regular. Check back every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to read about kickass restaurants in the Bay + DMV that slay all day. Happy eating, nomsters!